Medical boot with detachable sole for wound care application

Abstract

A medical boot for protecting a user's foot has a bottom covering formed of a continuous loop material. A detachable, flexible external trilaminate sole has an upper layer of a continuous fabric loop material engageable with the bottom of the boot, a bottom layer of a ground-engaging material, and an intermediate layer of a resilient foam.

Having described my invention, I claim: 
     
       1. A medical boot for orthotic or wound care applications comprising: a flexible boot having a fabric bottom cover and adapted to receive the foot of a patient;   said fabric bottom cover having integral fibrous loop fastener material which extends over the entire bottom surface thereof;   a detachable sole member having a heel, a toe, a width and a sufficient rigidity to support the patient's foot while walking with the flexible boot;   said detachable sole member having a fibrous hook fastener material releasably secured to the fibrous loop fastener material on the bottom surface of fabric bottom cover whereby said detachable sole member can be detached from said boot;   the detachable sole member comprising a trilaminate material including an upper layer of said fibrous hook fastener material, a bottom layer of a rubber-like material having a ground-engaging surface coextensive with said upper layer, and an intermediate layer of compressible resilient foam, wherein the detachable sole member provides a continuous area of compression from said heel to said toe and the full width of the detachable sole for accommodating the weight of a patient's foot disposed in said boot.   
     
     
       2. A medical boot as defined in claim 1, including a second sole member removably disposed in the flexible fabric boot. 
     
     
       3. A medical boot as defined in claim 2, in which the second sole member comprises a portion of an L-shaped splint. 
     
     
       4. A medical boot as defined in claim 2, in which the second sole member comprises a relatively hard sole disposed in the boot generally parallel to the detachable sole member. 
     
     
       5. A medical boot as defined in claim 1, in which the boot includes a lower first fabric panel defining the foot of the boot and an upper second panel defining an upright portion of the boot; said panels each comprising a resilient foam core, an inner fabric covering, and an outer fabric covering on said core having a loop fastener surface;   said upper panel being adapted to partially surround the wearer's foot and calf including the wearer's toes; and   the upper panel having an integral leg strap adapted to span the front surface of the wearer's leg.   
     
     
       6. A medical boot as defined in claim 1, the first releasable interlocking means comprising continuous miniature loops capable of being interlocked with fibrous hook fastener materials, and the second releasable interlocking means comprises fibrous hook fastener material adapted to adhere to mating surfaces of the bottom of the fabric boot. 
     
     
       7. A medical boot as defined in claim 1, in which the detachable sole member has forward and rear ends which are horizontally curved in shape.